Israeli Arab MP who joined Gaza flotilla barred from re-election

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's electoral authority barred an Arab lawmaker from re-election on Wednesday, saying she had supported the nation's enemies by joining a protest ship that tried to break a naval blockade of Gaza.

Haneen Zoabi is expected to appeal to Israel's highest court which has overruled most previous efforts to disqualify Arab candidates as violations of free speech.

Israel's Central Elections Committee voted 19 to 9 with one abstention to block Zoabi's candidacy for the January 22 general election, a committee spokesman said. Separate motions to disqualify two Arab political parties were defeated.

Zoabi was on board the Mavi Marmara ship which was boarded by Israeli troops as it approached waters off Gaza in May 2010 as part of an international flotilla challenging Israel's blockade on the territory controlled by the Islamist group Hamas.

Nine Turkish citizens were killed, striking a huge blow to relations between the two countries.

The electoral committee disqualified Zoabi on two grounds: "negating Israel's existence as a Jewish state" and "support for an enemy state or terrorist organization engaged in armed conflict against Israel," spokesman Giora Pordes said.